July 2013

07/31/2013

Good work by Texas Rangers TV play by play man Steve Busby - he nailed it.

The Rangers defeated the California Angels on Wednesday night 2-1 to complete a three-game sweep, all on walk-off home runs to left field. This time by Adrian Beltre on a pitch by Angels right hander Michael Kohn that was so fat it looked like home run derby toss.

The best part of Beltre's bullet drive to left field was Busby's call before the decisive final pitch:

Steve Busby: "It's a tie game at 1, last night it was a tie game at 11 in the 10th inning. ... The bench getting ready to celebrate another walk off victory if they possibly can."(One second later)"Beltre - a drive to left! Waaaaay back! I don't believe it! Good bye - they've done it again! ... Three consecutive walk off home runs! The Rangers sweep the Angels!"

Here is the video from MLB.com of all three walkoff homers:

Your browser does not support iframes.

The Rangers' Walk Off Hat Trick:7/29: Rangers 4, Angels 3 - Geovany Soto solo home run to left on a 3-2 pitch.7/30: Rangers 14, Angels 11 (10 innings) - Leonys Martin 3-run home run to left on a 1-2 pitch.7/31: Rangers 2, Angels 1 - Beltre solo home run to left on a 2-2 pitch.

The Rangers have become the fifth MLB team ever to win three straight games on walk off homeruns - the last was the Detroit Tigers in 2004.

No one has done more for college football media coverage in any offseason than Johnny Manziel; on behalf of a desperate media for something to talk about in between games - we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Sure, we'll hypocritically judge you for your behavior while secretly envying your life, but deep down we love you for the material. The latter is the priority.

Let's all jump down from our soap box of moral superiority and concern and admit that we simply don't care about this guy if he's not playing football. And that as much as we know because of social media, we really don't know.

No one wants him to get hurt or lead a bad life or experience tragedy, but this concern over Johnny Football has not only jumped the shark but totally insincere.

What will "fix" Johnny Football is playing the game again, which he will when Texas A&M's practice begins shortly. The rest of his "out of control, VH1 Behind the Scenes tragedy lifestyle" will fade and become part of his the Johnny Football lore.

Here is why this is all going to be fine very soon - because on the field no one can touch him.

Manziel may not win another Heisman, or beat Alabama again, or flop in the pros, but he is going to have a great season because it's college football. College football is still a game where a quarterback with quick feet, and a decent arm, can run around and improvise and make plays that can embarrass a defense.

So much of his best plays came after the first or second option was taken away. Re-watch the Cotton Bowl when Oklahoma routinely just barely missed on tackling him. In college, if a kid is athletic enough he can make something out of nothing for big gains.

Vince Young did it at Texas.Akili Smith did it at Oregon.Todd Reesing did it at Kansas, and he was only approximately 5-foot-3.

The dance around thing usually dies in the NFL because the best athletes are on defense, and the hits are too punishing to think it's a good idea. In college, you can run. In the pros, you better sit "still."

Manziel may be a this or a that, and he may party too hard, but he is still a dynamic college football player who can get away with it because no one can get a finger on him. As long as that is the case, he's fine, which is what you really care about.

07/30/2013

This is not exactly the most exciting news for fans of the Dallas Mavericks, but in their attempt to win the fifth seed in the Western Conference they have secured an upgrade over the previous season's team in another spot.

The team is on the verge of signing Spurs free agent forward DeJuan Blair to a one-year deal. Blair would be an immediate upgrade over Elton Brand, who signed this offseason with the Atlanta Hawks.

He is 6-foot-7, 265 pounds but has a big frame and can beat up people. Phsyically, he would remind you of David West, without his touch around the rim or jumper from 15 feet.

When Blair was a rookie out of Pittsburgh, he looked like he had the makings of becoming a nice, bruising power forward. A guy who scored eight points and grabbed eight rebounds off the bench.

As a rookie in 2009-'10, Blair played in all 82 games with the San Antonio Spurs and averaged 7.8 points and 6.4 rebounds. Since then, it's been a straight ride down the bench.

Last season, he averaged 5.4 points, 3.8 boards and a career-low 14.0 minutes per game.

When he's "good", he can push people around, defend the low block, and grab some boards and score junk buckets.

If the bat is there, the Rangers should deal closer Joe Nathan. And I say this as guy who likes Joe Nathan.

The Rangers have too much pitching not to go for it, and enough quality arms in the bullpen to compensate for Nathan's departure. An AL West title may be gone, but who cares about winning the division? The baseball playoffs are now just about getting in.

"Our strength this year has been our pitching staff and we have guys in the pen. We have guys that have had good years and we're deep there," Nathan told me. "I know this game and I know what teams are trying to do. When you have a chance for the postseason you have to see what is available and what people are interested in and what can help and hurt the club. It's a tough gig for (the front office), too."

Nathan is one of the best closers in the game and he could bring the bat this team desperately needs, preferably in left field.

I say left only because I believe center fielder Leonys Martin is going to be a solid player, and that Mitch Moreland's bat will come around.

But Manny Ramirez is not going to make a dent on the big club and this team needs someone to drive in runs. Nathan could bring in that guy.

ARLINGTON, Texas - The Texas Rangers rallied for their most inspiring win of the season thanks to a pair of ninth-inning solo home runs to defeat the mighty California Angels yet it didn't help in the actual standings.

Brad Pitt's Oakland A's may never lose again. The A's defeated the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday, so the Rangers' rally kept them six games back in the AL West with roughly two full months of the season to play.

Fans and self-appointed baseball/football/all-things-life experts smash the panic button with 56 games remaining in the regular season, yet the players themselves barely notice.

I asked a handful of players as well as Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington when they actually paid attention to the standings, and the answer is what you might expect from the actual professionals.

"Around the first of September," Rangers outfielder David Murphy told me. "That's around the time you have a pretty good idea of where everyone is."

We're not even into August, so none of these guys is sweating too much. It's the advantage/disadvantage of regular season that lasts approximately five full years.

"First of September," Washington said. "I've always done it that way, ever since I was a player. I don't read the papers or look or the standings."

The Rangers' six-game deficit is the second largest for any second place team in baseball; the Washington Nationals trail the Atlanta Braves by nine games in the National League East. Every other division race is 2.5 games or closer.

"I look when it matters," second baseman Ian Kinsler said. "That's Day 1. I want to be in first place."

07/29/2013

This week retired Dallas Cowboys offensive lineman Larry Allen will most likely deliver the worst, and shortest, speech ever in the history of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was a man of few words, but he was not some giant dummy.

No one lasts 14 years in the NFL and accomplishes as much as Allen by being dumb. He just didn't speak much to the cameras.

On Saturday, he will be enshrined where he belongs next to the greats to ever play the game of football on the football field in a football game in the National Football League.

An offensive lineman doesn't amass many highlights in a career, but Allen has two - his famous bench press of 700 pounds, and this classic of a Monday night game in 1994 during his rookie year. This play demonstrates just how athletic, and freakishly fast, Allen was.

The Frigid Waters of the Pacific Ocean: Don't be fooled - this little guy was all heart.

He was the Muggsy Bogues of fish. What this still photo fails to portray was the epic, Hemingwayesque, 30-plus second battle.

Scoreboard: Mac 1, Mother Nature 0.

This Rockfish put up such a fight I had no idea he was on the line.

What I didn't know then was that this fierce catch would be the highlight of my half-day fishing "adventure" between the Channel Islands in Southern California. It will be featured on the new hit TV show, Lamest Catch.

This was such a tragically unsuccessful fishing haul that the captain offered rebates for the guests. Thank God he didn't realize I am a rotten fisherman.

This trip severely tested the widely accepted adage that a bad day of fishing beats a good day of work.

The four people who barfed on the way out to the fishing spot may not agree. This was a flat day, with no white caps.The handful of roughly 20-plus guests who failed to catch a fish (NOT ME!) were not thrilled with their day.

One hour after the first cast, 8-year-old Anthony looked at me and asked, "Do you want me to show you how to catch a fish?" At that point, yes, please do. Anthony showed me everything that I was doing wrong.

Does a bad day of fishing beat a good day of work? Having fished from California to Mexico to the Atlantic to the Gulf of Mexico and Canada, the answer is ... it depends on how much you hate your job.

A bad day of fishing can really honk, especially if your breakfast re-appears later in the day. Sitting on a boat all day and getting skunked can be as depressing/frustrating as a bad round of golf, or any other activity designated as "fun", or "relaxing".Wretched weather can also do the trick.If you are fishing with buddies and are stuck with the one guy everyone secretly despises that can ruin everything.A idiot/indifferent/drunk guide can ruin a day of fishing.

There are a small number of scenarios that can ruin a day of fishing, all of which can reportedly be remedied by the intake of cereal malt beverages.

Alas, it can all be made better if one fish decides he is hungry. Thankfully for me, little Muggsy Bogues made my the trip.